The disclosure relates generally to displays, and more particularly, to subpixel arrangements of displays and a method for rendering the same.
Displays are commonly characterized by display resolution, which is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed (e.g., 1920×1080). Many displays are, for various reasons, not capable of displaying different color channels at the same site. Therefore, the pixel grid is divided into single-color parts that contribute to the displayed color when viewed at a distance. In some displays, such as liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, electrophoretic ink (E-ink) display, or electroluminescent display (ELD), these single-color parts are separately addressable elements, which are known as subpixels.
Various subpixel arrangements (layouts, schemes) have been proposed to operate with a proprietary set of subpixel rendering algorithms in order to improve the display quality by increasing the apparent resolution of a display and by anti-aliasing text with greater details. For example, LCDs typically divide each pixel into three strip subpixels (e.g., red, green, and blue subpixels) or four quadrate subpixels (e.g., red, green, blue, and white subpixels) so that each pixel can present brightness and a full color. However, since human vision system is not as sensitive to brightness as to color, the known solutions of using three or four subpixels to constitute a full-color pixel are not always necessary.
Other known solutions take a different approach by dividing each pixel into two subpixels and arranging the subpixels tiled across the display in a specifically designed pattern. In order to keep the same apparent color resolution in a larger scale, it is necessary to design the subpixel arrangement so that the pixels in a line along any direction of the display can still present full colors. In other words, the subpixels in each direction of the display should include subpixels of the three primary colors (red, green, blue), preferably with the same number. However, these known solutions only partially meet the requirement in the horizontal and/or vertical direction but not in the diagonal direction. Thus, the color presentation capability in the diagonal direction is compromised in these known solutions, which may cause problems, for example, in displaying text. In addition, some of these known solutions divide each pixel into subpixels with different shapes and sizes, thereby causing extra hardship for manufacturing.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved subpixel arrangements of displays and a method for rendering the same.